Back as her sassy self

It was the first day she was working here with me in the northeast field of the P&G Pet Care cube farm. We have a couple of drop-in workstations next to my mine, where I always give day visitors the heads up that I sure hope you like dogs. There’s always at least one furry being with me in the office, you know. My work is awesome that way.

My new neighbor turns to look with interest in my current interaction with Euka. Why are you massaging her ears? she asks, smiling.

‘Cuz she just came back in from a play session outside with Jeff’s puppy, I said. And her ears are completely besnotted with boxer slobber. I’m just rubbing them to get rid of the spiky moussed look.

I look up at my cube partner and note her expression, the smile now frozen. Oh, she says. You know, I’m sorry I asked.

And she was, really. Yeah, I can tell a cat person when I see one.

And back to her sassy self, as well.

Another reminder to me, as I am wont to forget this fact, that not everyone loves All Things Dog as much as I do.

Like the time I was wiping out Micron’s ears with a tissue while in deep conversation with a friend. Good gravy, I said, pausing to consider the brown ear wax. Look at how thick this is. It’s like apple butter inside there. [gaaaak], says my friend. Donna, that’s setting off my gag reflex. Yeah, this is pretty bad, I agree. More cinnamon would make it better.We dog lovers are a hardy bunch, aren’t we? We can have a full discussion on poor canine stool quality (I swear it looked like butterscotch pudding) while noshing upon sloppy mushroom swiss burgers for lunch. And we trade personal horror stories about the inconceivable amount of blood that a torn dew claw will spurt (I just about busted my butt slipping in the blood on the kitchen floor). I’ll tell everyone how Micron, when wet, smells just like canned mushroom soup. Nothing touches my iron clad appetite.

Unless it’s of the non-canine variety, that is. I had a daycare worker tell me one time that she knew which toddler needed a diaper change just by the smell. Did you know each kid produces his or her own personalized aroma? Yeah, I didn’t. Something to do with different gut flora, I would guess. Then she leaned over and sniffed into the back of a nearby diapered kid while stuffing an index finger in the biological melee inside. Holy dog, I nearly yacked on that one. I’ve been trying to store that memory in the brain archives so I can pull out the file on it as needed. But no, this scene just pops back in the frontal lobe at will to give me a rumbly tummy.

So yep, I’m a dog person. All the way through.

Except when I’m not. And that’s just been one thing so far, I’ve found. It was not just the inexperience of dealing with it, but also the reputed smelly mess that had me just a little worried about caring for a dog in estrus You know, the heat cycle. In season. An ill-timed visit from Auntie Flo. Whatever you wanna call it, I prefer less hormonal drama in my house.

But three weeks after dropping off a little girl, we picked up a young lady this week. Yep, finally got the girl back at our place to continue her puppy training. We did indeed miss the attitude around here.

You know, Micron and Jager are cruising along on autopilot these days. Pretty much just maintenance mode since there’s not much else that can be done with Jager’s training. I yam who I yam, says Jager in his best Popeye voice. There’s no changing him at this point. And who would want to anyway? And the mighty Micron is in the same boat, which has me mixing my metaphors with auto piloting and boating. But we have the Popeye link, so there’s that.

Oh, but I do love the challenges that come with this gig of puppy raising for CCI. I’m so jazzed to be working with Euka on her socialization skills again. And she’s back just in time for some autumn photos, sans the Jack O’Lantern, a couple examples of which we’ve shared above for y’all.

And now with Euka back at our place, we can get the band back together. The Ohio E’s are all in town to rock our worlds.

Oh hey, what if these guys were really a rock band? How would that work out, do you think? I see the laid back Everett as the drummer, right? Duuuude, says Everett. Emma could be bass and Ella keyboards. Or maybe with a tambourine.

Our Miss Euka? A natural choice as lead singer. She craves the adrenaline of the spotlight, this one.

Her report card from CCI from her three week spa vacation came back as Excellent, which has bumped up my confidence in her another notch. I don’t know the future for Euka, but I can imagine it.

Because when her time with us is finished, Euka will be rocking the world for her person. And not just Miss Euka. This entire E litter is something amazing. I’m thinking all these E’s are going to be rock stars.

We have just a mere six months left with these pups, but you know, I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next.

About Raising a Super Dog

As a volunteer puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence (www.cci.org) I encounter extraordinary people and their canine partners. These are my stories about sharing life, family and home with incredible dogs.

But this is my personal journey; CCI may or may not agree with my thoughts as I share them here.

We do hope you enjoy reading our adventures. Because we're having a blast here.

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All content on this website is the property of Donna Black-Sword unless otherwise noted and may not be used for any purpose without permission. Please contact me at puppysword@gmail.com with any requests.